On Sunday September 19 at appx. 6:45 p.m. local time, I witnessed what appeared to be two twin engine "commercial" airliners (7X7?) flying in an extremely tight formation, one behind and above the other. This occurred at about 7000' msl (guessing) and about 2 miles NNW of the LAS VOR. The planes were heading West to East. Hopefully this is enough information to help pin down what was going on. I initially suspected midair refueling, but couldn't make out a boom (besides, why would they refuel at such a low altitude over a heavily populated area?) If anyone has any knowledge or ideas about this, I'd love to hear it. Thanks for you time!

Well using your information, if they were roughly at 7000' as you say and 2 miles from a VOR, my guess tells me that they were probably established on a hold over said LAS VOR. Due to where you were standing looking up, it would appear that they are in close formation, but infact, one could be at 7000' and the other at 8000', for example, giving the false impression. That is a common occourance at busy airports/airspaces where traffic is very high.

I remember seeing photos on here recently about 3 SAA aircraft doing a close formation for an audience. One was an A346, the other a 744 and 747SP.

Hope that helps!

You are said to be a good pilot when your take-off's equal your landings.